California state senator Josh Becker (D) has proposed a bill that would allow utilities and grid operators to treat home backup batteries like real power plants. The bill would allow for programs that pay homeowners to share excess energy capacity during peak demand. Currently, California utility customers add around 8,000 new home batteries to the grid each month, amounting to about 100 MW of new storage capacity. This could significantly reduce strain on the state’s grid during peak periods. If passed, SB 913 would allow customer-owned clean energy resources like home batteries, electric vehicles, and smart thermostats to compete with traditional power sources at a low cost.